It's OK, you can fess up: how are you really feeling about the festive season? It is a long year, we've all put a lot in, and so many people's light is starting to dim right about now. And yet, here comes Christmas. It can feel like just another thing on the list, something that'd be easier to just let slide…after all, there are other things in a year, and the children can celebrate at home. Right? Hmm.
How to 'serve up' Christmas from the Heart
'For our eyes' only and the power of team reflection
We often think of reflection as something very personal, very private. And of course it is, and for some of us even more so as we need that sense of 'for our eyes only' so we can get our thoughts from our head and heart out through our hands. That sense of the individual reflection is really important and valuable, but it is also not the only way we can reflect. There is also huge potential for, and power in a team approach to reflection. One that doesn't cancel out the individual process, but enriches it.
How to turn your reflection from a 'job' to a joy!
You’ll have seen us promoting our Reflection Journal, our resource that took off with a roar last year, and has been refreshed and revamped for a new 2020 edition. We genuinely love our journal - it is unique, and useful, and has The Heart School ‘written all over it’. Though in fact, the real beauty of it is that while our messages are strongly in there, it is actually YOU writing all over it, with your thoughts, ideas, ponderings and wonderings.
We're not all fans of the royals, but we should be fans of all mothers
Today I've read things about Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, "not being OK" in these months postpartum and I'm feeling really disappointed.
Yes, she's now royalty, and yes I'm sure she does know she has a castle, but how do these things make her immune to the experiences new mums face? Why is she not allowed to not be OK?' Each thing I read that mocks her right to feel anything but #blessed makes me sad.
Show the joy - kindness is more than ‘luck’
“We’re very lucky”. These are the words we hear from teachers in beautiful ECE settings with a programme that offers equally beautiful care to young children. Perhaps this is the humility we tend to have here in Aotearoa, or down to the warmth and generous nature of kind teachers, but 'luck’ is only the tiniest part of the picture.
Reflection - is it ‘that thing we do’ or is it ‘fuel’ for your journey?
Marvel at as is - the joy is right in front of us
There is a saying, comparison is the thief of joy. This is a real issue for our parents, and something we, as ECE teachers, can help them counter. Many parents are really excited by something their child has done...until they notice another child further along the developmental path, and their excitement deflates instantly.
To all the 'one person band' heart centred carers
Being part of a heart-centred team is a beautiful thing. This ‘tribe’ will support each other, have shared understandings, are good company, and notice ‘fuel tank’ levels and will take action to make deposits (in their own and their teammates) to keep them topped up. The energy will be positive and genuine, even in the challenging times.
The team is important, yes, but it is not the only heart-centred ‘set up’ available. Some heart-teachers or carers don’t have the team. They are perhaps working solo in a home setting, or work with others but at this stage are the first to take the heart path.
Kindness is the way
Happiness. That is perhaps the most common answer when parents or anyone who cares deeply about children are asked what, above all else, they want for them in life. “I just want them to be happy”. And of course that is a lovely thing, and an important one. But we would like to throw another priority out on the table. Our top pick, our 'above all else', wish for children is kindness. For them to experience kindness and offer kindness. Now and in their future.
Collaboration - your team members are also persons
George Eliot said,
“what do we live for, if not to make life less difficult for each other”?
This is an interesting one to ponder as a team, as so often the least strong part of our entire practice is what we do for each other.
We may serve children beautifully, and be warm and responsive to families, but to the teachers and management we spend our days with? Whether we class these people as friends, or merely ‘colleagues’, sometimes there is very little that is collegial about how we treat each other.
Feeling heard and practice hearing - more than just getting ‘on board’
The art of playing - don’t let it go dormant
Play is as innate in our children as pecking is in chickens. They don’t need us to teach them how to play, just to allow them to do what comes so naturally.
There is concern over this generation of children losing the art of playing, and it’s often presented under two misconceptions: that it is somehow the fault of the children, and that it’s just inevitable - nothing can be done about it. We call WRONG on both.
To teach or not to teach?
This name we have for ourselves - teacher - makes us feel we must be ‘teaching’. You know, as in the transmitting of knowledge, the deciding, planning, ‘extending’. Then there can be some sense of a knowable, showable outcome for this time immersed in nature. But for children to really make sense of the world they need to explore it on their terms. They can and will grow in the environment just by being in it, following where curiosity takes them, and using their hands and play urges to try out this and that. They don’t need us to teach. They know how to be in nature, and they know how to play.
In Nature - give them the real thing!
We give our children a great gift when we allow them to truly be IN nature. They have an innate connection with this beautiful earth of ours, but they can only maintain this connection with our support. They need unstructured time outdoors, playing in nature, and with all the treasures it has to offer.
It takes a family to raise a nature child
We get our families on board with our nature-fying when we invite them along on the journey, and involve them in our processes. No one likes to have things done to them, so dumping a nature programme on our parents with no collaboration isn’t likely to be received well. Even if we’ve established a lot and a family is new, immerse them in the journey from their get-go. Invite them and involve them. Be open to the possibilities that every single new community member can offer. Tha is why there is no end to this path we’re on. Every new relationship we make brings the chance for new learning and ideas.
Early CHILDHOOD Education - honouring the crucial word that needs our focus
We’ve worked months on our new toolkit about young children in nature. We’ve written tens of thousands of words on multiple related topics, presented them beautifully and created additional resources to accompany. A lot of hard work and a lot of heart work, and then we had a burst of inspiration, the ‘penny dropped’ and we realised the absolute simplicity of the message.
Be as a gardener
The need for nature - being IN the earth
Our children are born with an innate connection to the earth. They are a part of nature, and crave to continue that connection.
When they have freedom in a natural environment you see how authentic their joy is in this type of setting. They want to be outdoors, IN nature, learning WITH and THROUGH nature. They want to keep this bond strong. They know how to, it’s not something we need to ‘teach’, but we absolutely need to allow for it. We need to offer the right space, lots of uninterrupted time, and see the inherent value of young children being truly immersed in a natural setting.
Holding it together - when passion leaves, commitment holds
Being passionate. It is something high on the list of qualities for an ECE teacher, and rightly so.
There is certainly a need for passion if we are to serve our children well, and to rise above the level of care that is called ‘good enough’ in our sector, but we know is not good enough. We want to offer exceptional care, and passion seems to be one of the major ingredients needed to make this happen.